The Girls’ Education and Women’s Empowerment and Livelihoods (GEWEL) Project is a flagship social protection intervention by the Government of Republic of Zambia (GRZ) that promotes a cash ‘plus’ approach with a view towards layering complementary social programs over basic safety net assistance to enhance human capital and development outcomes. The project focuses on increasing access to livelihood support for women and access to secondary education for disadvantaged adolescent girls in extremely poor households in selected districts, while providing cash transfers for poor and vulnerable households.
By the time of its closing in December 2024, GEWEL achieved strong results in poverty reduction, household resilience, economic welfare, and human capital outcomes, with economic inclusion interventions that had the potential to graduate people out of poverty, while establishing robust delivery systems for greater fiduciary accountability and smooth implementation.
It has four key areas of interventions: (i) Social Cash Transfers (SCT); (ii) Supporting Women’s Livelihoods (SWL); (iii) Keeping Girls in School (KGS); and (iv) Institutional Strengthening and Systems Building (ISSB). GEWEL became effective in April 2016 and was co-financed by the GRZ, World Bank, and donor trust fund grants from Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and Ireland.